Do you have what it takes?

When applying for a job, most places don’t make you run a timed mile and a-half run. But, a physical fitness test is a requirement if you want to be a police officer.

To get into the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, there are four areas a person has to be proficient in during the physical fitness test — sit and reach, sit ups, push ups and a 1.5 mile run.

“We have the luxury of having a great relationship with the school, and so they allow us, when we have these processes, to use the track, and that’s six laps,” said Osceola Police Chief Marty Duffus. “And, they allow us to use the wrestling room because it’s got mats and things on the floor for the sit and reach, the push ups and the sit ups.”

For those who don’t know, sit and reach is where a person sits on the floor with legs fully extended and feet up against a box. The person has to lean forward and reach to a certain point on the box. It’s to show range in flexibility.

During the push up test, a male or female officer will be beside the person making a fist on the ground and the person has to touch the fist every time he or she goes down.

There are different scales based upon age and gender in the physical fitness test.

Lots of testing

Duffus said the school district also allows the usage of the library when the officers are administering a law enforcement written test and a room for the police chief to conduct interviews of applicants.

The most recent physical fitness test the police department administered was a few weeks ago. The department is in the process of hiring two new officers.

Applicants have to take the physical fitness test and written test and go through an interview process and background check. As the process continues, the top applicants also have to have a psychological exam.

Duffus said he’s hoping to make job offers by mid-September.

Getting tripped up

When it comes to the physical fitness and written tests, Duffus said people typically have a harder time with passing the physical fitness test.

He said the majority of people pass the physical test, but there’s a good percentage of applicants who don’t.

“The perception is our job is very sedentary, and it is. People see us, we’re usually sitting down. We’re in a car,” Duffus said.

Duffus said, his rule is a person has to be at least age 21 to be a police officer in Osceola.

The key to passing the law enforcement test, like any tests, is to practice and prepare.

“Even some of the younger folks, like in this past process, we had some in that 20 to 29 range who dropped out after the push ups and sit ups,” Duffus said. “Normally, in the physical agility part of it, when we lose somebody, it’s normally in the run. … It really is any given Saturday.”